Marathon training plan after cruddy 7 mos

I think I'm going to train for Sioux Falls, SD marathon which is Sept 9th. My training was great last summer. I followed Pfitzinger's 55/18 program very closely for my mid-Sept marathon. Since then a variety of factors played into really off and on running, no real training. I was averaging 40 miles week after the marathon until December. December wasn't anything great, January my longest run was probably 12 miles, Feb nothing longer than 10, March, just about no running through now. So anyway, I am just wondering what program I should follow.

I am definitely not ready for Pfitzinger and I don't need an injury from getting too deep into anything too soon. I don't really care about my finish time at this point, this is more of a diversion to keep my running up and have something to focus on. Thanks for any advice. I have Hal's Marathon training book, Pfitzinger's advanced marathoning and also Run Faster but I'm pretty much just wanting something that is enough to keep me busy and in decent shape without injury. I'm not going out for more than 15 miles next weekend or anything like that.

Hal's novice program is pretty good.

You can also shift the training days a little to Tue, Thur, Sat and Sun if it fits your schedule better. Or you can use these 4 days in his intermediate plan.

But what do I know about training?

Julie, starting next week you'll have 19 weeks. Why not do some base building for 7 weeks and then do a 12-week plan. Work your way up to a 12M run within the 7 weeks.

If you don't care about a finishing time, you won't have any problems. Take 7-8 weeks (as Alex suggested) to just get back into running - maybe try to hit 30-40mpw by then - then do 12 weeks of increasing long and sorta-long runs.

Maybe you can handle Pfitz' 18 wk program since the build up isn't fast, or really, honestly, one of Hal's Intermediate programs.

If it was me, I'd do a Hal plan, probably Int I and just go pretty easy. That'll get you through in good shape without being unnecessarily taxing. If you get half way through and feel great, shift it into Int II mileage. Skip the x-training if you like, and I never do the pace runs at MP (if I do, I just go too fast, and I don't think the idea of his pace runs work very well for me).

Thanks all. I was thinking about maybe an intermediate program. I would hope in a few weeks I'd be back to 30-40 mpw I'm just trying to be careful to not give myself an injury since I haven't done much since my Sept marathon.

For base building, should I just run 5 or 6 miles most days and then 10-14 on the weekends or something like that? I ran 5 yesterday but then I also had to get my daughter's cold on top of all the other junk I have going on so I need just a couple more days off before I can get back into things.

What 12 week program would you recommend if I do base building the next 7 weeks?

Phitz has a 12-week. Or you could just take it and tweak to how you want it. For the base building I would go all by feel. Maybe once a week do some fartlek running if you feel it. Nothing real intense just something faster than usual.

It's coming back easier than I thought it would. I have a Pfitzinger plan I'll try to follow as closely as I can just watching for injury. If I'm not running with a time goal, do I at least make up a reasonable time expectation so I can do my MP long runs (and all the other runs that call for half marathon pace and all that)?

Julie, maybe jump into a local race just to see where your fitness is. Then use that as a guide to pacing. Otherwise I would just run everything by feel. As long as you know when you are running too slow or too fast you should be good.

Thanks Alex, I do like the idea of just running by feel, that is how I normally do things, I just am typically a rule follower so when I see a schedule calling for something at a certain pace I want to do that. But honestly I'm thinking of leaving my watch off for the marathon and just enjoying it and making sure I don't start out too fast.

Run those training runs at marathon effort. Just like the race.

@Mike MacLellan wrote:Run those training runs at marathon effort. Just like the race.

Sleep deprivation hasn't done anything for my thinking or my apparent intelligence. Thanks Mike.

It sounds like Hal's plans may fit what you're looking for. They include a nice variety of paces and keep you in good general shape, which you can then transition into whatever distance you'd like.